


Castle on the Hill

by tsundanire



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: EWE, Fluff, M/M, sort of epistolary?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 17:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15954179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsundanire/pseuds/tsundanire
Summary: Based on Ed Sheeran's "Castle on the Hill"Harry takes a "road trip" back to England after spending a few years in Romania working with dragons.





	Castle on the Hill

**Author's Note:**

  * For [donnarafiki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/donnarafiki/gifts).



> Huge thanks to [@keyflight790](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyflight790) for reading this through and making corrections. I'm sorry again for breaking you. 
> 
> To [@rose-grangerweasleyisbae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/donnarafiki/works), for your birthday. You are an amazing squad cheerleader and know that even if you can't see us, your squad is right there with you!

_____

  
  


Harry rolled his shoulders as much as he could while still maintaining control of the broom. He flew over open fields of grass rolling out across the hills, like a carpet made of nature’s green. The fresh country breeze whipped all around him, it smelled like a hazy memory and comfortingly familiar much the way a stuffed animal is to a child. 

 

It had been ten long years since Harry had left. It wasn’t easy, and there had been days when he wanted to come home so badly it caused him physical illness. But letters from his friends, and the work he did, helped him focus on recovery. All ten of those years had put Harry at Charlie Weasley’s side, learning the ins and outs of Dragon care. He’d even bonded with a Welsh Green on accident, but who was now fully grown and independant. It was largely why Harry knew it was time to come back; his Green Lady (as he so lovingly nicknamed the dragon) was starting her own family, and was too busy guarding her eggs to notice Harry these days.

 

In those ten years, Harry had received letters from all his friends and those he called family, including photos of different events he’d missed: weddings, births, even a few people who’d passed on. Among those letters were a few that he’d come to cherish more than he could have ever realised. After speaking at the trials for the Malfoys, Harry and Draco had left on fairly uncomfortable but neutral terms. They shook hands, didn’t speak a single word to each other, and that was it. 

 

So when Draco’s beautiful eagle owl arrived on Harry’s stoop with a thick envelope, it was with surprise and a bit of uncertainty that Harry even opened it. The letter itself was strange and of course completely Draco, with only one apology in the entire thing. The rest of it was complete drivel about things back home. In the time that Harry was away, Draco filled Harry in on the boring but strangely important things that had happened, including Luna taking Draco ‘round to different friends’ houses and re-introducing them as if they were meeting for the first time. Draco noted that in a way it was kind of like a first meeting, since things had changed so much for everyone. It wasn’t easy of course, and there were many, like Hermione and Neville, who’d taken a few years to warm up to Draco. But Luna was tireless and finally able to get their little group together for weekly pub nights without incident. 

  
  


_ I’m surprised at how well it went. Luna was determined that everyone was going to get along so we did… I suppose? Of course, she didn’t exactly give me a choice about going either. Always gets her way, that one does.  _

  
  


Harry laughed at that letter as it had included a photo of them surrounding a booth. It looked ironically posed, faces strained with expressions they didn’t all genuinely feel. But it was nice to see everyone, including how much they had all changed. Hermione with her rounded pregnant belly, Neville having gotten fit as hell and seemingly eyeing up Blaise, Ron’s strained smile at the photo, and Draco… He’d somehow only grown more handsome over the years, hair lengthening to just above his shoulders, though he’d tied it back for the photo. There was something about the messy strands falling around his face that made Draco seem so much more human. 

  
  


_ The funny thing about this photo is not just what’s happening during, but what happened after too. Hermione’s water broke and Ronald started panicking. Luckily at least three people at the table were trained Healers and were able to get her to where she needed to be without incident. _

  
  


Draco had also shared stories from his childhood, both good and bad, all while learning more about Harry’s childhood as well. It had been a rough couple letters, putting himself out there like that, but Draco had reciprocated by telling him about what happened at the manor while Harry had been on the run. It had been a few hard letters to stomach, but it succeeded in bringing them closer and eventually lead them to more light-hearted subjects, including one letter that was purely flirtatious with mass quantities of innuendo. Harry had laughed so hard while reading it that he’d actually been crying. 

 

_____

 

Harry did a little loop in the air, mimicking the way his stomach felt as he recalled the day he got Draco’s letter the night after Harry had sent a rather drunk flirtatious mess. It had been the most embarrassing thing the next morning, and he’d only remembered half of what he’d said. But then Draco’s reply....

  
  


**_I_ ** _ ’m not sure how I’m expected to respond to this mess… I mean, clearly you’d had one too many of Odgen’s finest, but seriously Potter? I mean, some of those fantasies were insanely hot! I’m feeling a bit flushed just trying to picture them. _

  
  


That was the start of some rather… intense exchanging of letters. It was all dares and secrets, and things no one else knew about them. Harry told Draco all about trying to process his sexuality, and spending most of his childhood afraid of what it might mean when he was more aroused by the quidditch locker rooms over snogging Ginny. Draco had told him about knowing who he was from a young age, but needing to lock it away due to pureblood customs.

  
  


_ I suppose it hardly matters now, to be honest. The Malfoy name doesn’t exactly have much hold in many circles anymore. And to be frank, I’ll use any excuse not to have to breed if I can help it. I can’t imagine raising a family with the pressures my parents would insist on.  _

  
  


It had taken a year of those letters before they admitted any kinds of feelings, and that had brought the conversation back around to their childhoods, acknowledging little moments where they should have acted or said something differently. Harry had felt his heart swell three times its size when Draco had written his confession.

  
  


_ We’ve been writing each other for almost 9 years Potter… That’s longer than we were together at school. I’ve forgotten the sound of your voice… and thankfully your pictures helped me remember what you look like, otherwise I’d feel as if I was writing to a memory. Still, these have been the best years of my life and I feel so morose over the fact that we’ve only been able to share them like this. I wish you were here. I wish so badly you were home. I miss you. And maybe, just maybe, I might be falling a little bit in love with you. _

  
  


That was all it took to make Harry talk to Charlie about taking some time off. They both agreed it was useless to go before Green Lady’s first season, but once she’d laid her eggs, Charlie agreed to take over and let Harry take some time to visit home. His next letter was only one line, with a date, time and location. 

 

Draco’s letter hadn’t come for a while, but when it finally did, it came with letters from all his friends, demanding that they spend time with them too. Harry laughed so hard that he cried, which turned into happy sobs. He was going to see his family. And of course there was the knowledge that the only reason his friends knew was because Draco had told them. Hermione’s letter had been the most revealing in regards to Draco’s feelings.  
  
  


Honestly Harry, we knew something was going on when he showed up to pub night looking like he was dancing on clouds. I’d never seen him smile like that, or heard him laugh like that. He’s happy Harry, and it sounds like you are as well.

 

_____

 

Harry aimed his broom straight, knowing who was waiting for him, probably as nervous and eager as he was. He knew everything that was happening in his friends lives because Draco had taken the time to outline it, almost to the point of creating charts and graphs. It was adorable in the way that Draco was. But there was a thought that lingered in both their heads as they each wrote one last letter. It was the thought that was in Harry’s head as the tower peaks of Hogwarts rose on the horizon. The closer he got, the harder his heart began to pound in his chest. And as he turned towards the quidditch pitch, he could see their group gathered for the picnic. Within minutes he would be there and landing and hugging everyone. Hopefully a little more than a hug from the man who’s blond hair he could almost see flying about in the wind.

  
  


_ Harry… I’m not afraid. But I am worried. What if ten years was too long? What if we waited too long and it’s just awkward? What if… What if you get here and we just end up shaking hands because it feels so weird? _

  
  


Harry sent his last letter just hours before he had taken a portkey to London and hopped on his broom. The air rushing over him was in hopes of calming his anxiety about seeing Draco, the man who’s words he’d fallen in love with. 

 

**Draco… It’s been ten years of us dancing around this. Actually, more than ten if you count our school years. The only thing I’m going to want to do when I see you is kiss you. So when you see me, I don’t want you to give a single damn about how awkward you might feel. I want you to grab me and kiss me. Kiss me so hard that we forget anything but how desperately in love we’ve fallen.**

  
  


FIN

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on [tumblr.](https://breathofmine.tumblr.com/)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Fanart] Castle on the Hill](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16160789) by [keyflight790](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyflight790/pseuds/keyflight790)




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